


A Place to Call Home

by jackstanifold



Series: Of Family and Fear au [7]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Ranboo Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28761912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackstanifold/pseuds/jackstanifold
Summary: Ranboo just wanted someone to ask him if he was okay, if he needed help, if he was in pain.No one did.No one even noticed him.
Relationships: Grayson | Purpled & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Of Family and Fear au [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052519
Comments: 26
Kudos: 678





	A Place to Call Home

**Author's Note:**

> look, i like misfern just as much as the next mentally ill teenager, but hear me out: no.
> 
> tw for: unsympathetic fundy and niki.

Ranboo’s back hurt. He had been slammed against a rock when the explosions had started, and now his spine tingled with a pain he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the severity of. He didn’t want to ask anyone for help, either, they had their own problems.

Jack was back from the dead. He shouldn’t have respawned, that was his third death, but he had, and Ranboo wanted to ask how, ask him what was going on, but...

He’d heard stories from Tommy and Tubbo about Jack, how he was funny, and nice, and always trying to crack jokes, but he couldn’t forget the way Jack had snarled at Technoblade, the way he’d slammed his fists into the warrior’s armour until they could see the glint of bone, the way he had screamed in rage so hard his voice was gone within seconds.

So Ranboo let Jack go, let him walk away with his secrets. He had the feeling no one else had even noticed, leaving the man to his newfound immortality.

Ranboo saw Purpled too. It was odd, how young the boy looked now, doused in blood, trying to fix the bridge. Apparently, he and his brother had been champion acrobats, back in Hypixel, taking the audience by storm. His brother had abandoned him, and he made his way here. Now, he was fighting wars for people who didn’t care about him. Ranboo felt sick at the thought, even though his story wasn’t much different.

“Hey, Purp?”

The teen’s head snapped up, looking shocked to be acknowledged. “Oh. Hey Ranboo. Do you need something?”

The Enderman scratched his neck gently. “Um, no, I just… I wanted to make sure you were ok?”

Purpled gave him a weird look, before shrugging a shoulder. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Oh, good.”

It was quiet for a moment. Ranboo half hoped the other boy would ask him if he was ok, if he was in pain, how he felt about watching his brand new home go up in flames, but then the smaller boy cleared his throat. 

“Mmm. Well, I gotta finish this. Uh…”

“Oh. Yeah, no, I’ll. I’m going to… I’m going to go. Sorry.”

He walked away, clutching his scarf with his clawed hand, human hand tugging his coat collar up. He passed other people.

HBomb was holding onto the rubble at the edge of the crater, staring in silently. The man looked up and made eye contact with Ranboo, and the bitterness in his eyes made him shudder.

Quackity and Ghostbur were talking by the tower, and Ranboo didn’t want to interrupt. Ghostbur smiled at him and waved, but Quackity didn’t even turn.

Callahan stood alone, staring at the smoke that bellowed into the night sky. He glanced at Ranboo for a second, but shook his head, letting his hood fall to his shoulders. He made no move to replace it.

Sapnap and Karl were holding each other, talking in low voices. George sat nearby, bandaging Corpse’s arm, although his hands shook so badly that the other man had to take over after a bit.

Bad and Skeppy were sitting together, the red vines that sprouted from Skeppy’s flesh trembling as he sucked in shaky breath after shaky breath. Bad didn’t seem to notice his husband’s difficulty breathing, gazing at the hole with a calculating gaze. Ranboo heard a voice in his head, reminding him of what this man has done, who he’d hurt.

Niki and Fundy stood in the path, their backs to Ranboo, talking. He let out a sigh of relief and started to jog closer. 

“Guys! Hey, guys!”

Niki turned, and smiled. “Ranboo! What did you think? Did you like the show?”

Ranboo slowed, feeling a sudden burst of anxiety in his chest. “Uh… what did I… What?”

Fundy grinned. “What did you think? You were right Ranboo. This isn’t about sides. Not any more.”

“You…” He paled in realisation, taking a step back. “You’re the ones who took down the defenses. You guys destroyed L’Manburg.”

“We’re sick of being ignored! Being second best, being background information.” Fundy laughed, his eyes gleaming with something sick. “Aren’t you?! What you said yesterday, about sides? You were right!”

“So now you’re listening?” Ranboo’s throat burned, but whether it was from the smoke or unshed tears, he wasn’t sure.

Fundy grinned. “Yeah, now I’m listening. Yesterday, when you spoke, I thought you were stupid. I won’t sugar coat it, I thought you were dumb. But now...”

“So… what you’re saying is… We should team up?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Something in Ranboo’s chest broke. “That’s exactly what you weren’t supposed to say,” Fundy frowned, opening his mouth to respond, but Ranboo continued. “You guys are cowards! You’re making a team, just because you’re scared you’re going to be forgotten! You’ve made yourself a home here, and yet you blew it up! You destroyed everything.”

Fundy laughed, sharp, angry. “Yeah. We did. Because people thought we wouldn’t. I’m sick of being ignored, Ranboo! I’m sick of people forgetting me.”

“NO ONE FORGOT YOU.” Ranboo was screaming now, fear, anger and pain pouring together in his voice and rushing out as a chorus of emotion. “You were never forgotten. Neither of you were! You say people ignore you, but you’ve already done so much, created so much history, history that will be remembered! 

“Jack’s been here since the beginning. He fought the wars with you, built himself up from nothing. Purpled is a kid, literally my age, yet he’d fought war after war. H’s entire life has gone into making friends, helping people. Helping you, Fundy. Ponk’s livelihood went up in flames, time and time again. Bad and Skeppy have carried each other through hell. Callahan literally built this world. None of them are going to be remembered in the end. And you… what? Your daddy didn’t hug you? Your boyfriend left you at the altar? Your boss called you names?”

Fundy rushed forward, grabbing Ranboo’s collar and yanking, forcing him to bend down to eye level. “Shut the fuck up! You have no idea how much it hurts to be me!”

Ranboo laughed, for the first time in a long time. “Hurts to be you?! Fundy, I’m literally a monster. I’m literally dying, as we speak, my memory and skin rotting into nothing. People stare at me on the street, and call me a freak, and take things from me because I can’t stop them. Fundy, you have no idea how often I wish I could just die already.”

Fundy paused, stepping back, letting the boy go. They glared at each other, before the shorter man scoffed. “You are sad.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I really really am, Fundy.”

They didn’t stop him as he left, walking back to the town square. There was something he had to do.

His home was destroyed. It was completely obliterated. Enderchest sat in the ashes, staring up at him. She let out a quiet meow, and rubbed against his ankles. He sighed, picking her up and setting her on his shoulders. He stood in the ashes, looking around, trying to find something, anything to make him stay, to make him want to stick around. 

Nothing. 

So, he started walking. 

He walked past the crater, past Eret and HBomb, past Ponk, past Alyssa, past Ant, past Conner, into the plains, walking through the grass, staring ahead, not stopping. 

His panic room was exactly as he left it, the words scratched into the walls still nearly unreadable.

Was he wrong? 

What if sides were the right option here? What if he was insane? How would one even be completely without a side? Why could he hear his heartbeat? He tugged his memory book out of his pocket, staring at the second page, at the words at the top. “My friends.” Who were his friends? Who? Did he even have friends? Would being without sides even work? What was wrong with him? Why was he thinking like this? Was he wrong?

No. No he couldn’t be wrong. He couldn’t be…

Could he?

“Hello.”

He froze, staring at the man shaped shadow in the corner, before slumping in exhaustion. “Oh. So you’re here. You’ve come to my… To my panic room. I really can’t escape you, can I?”

Silence.

“Why. Why now? Why are you doing this now, when you could’ve blown it up immediately? Why give them a delay? Why give them hope?”

“Eh. It’s fun.”

“That’s what it’s always been, huh?”

“It’s just a game.”

“Yeah, it’s fun for you to… watch everyone suffer for a little bit?”

“Lotta fun.”

“...Did I do the wrong thing, Dream?”

It was silent for a bit, the shadowy figure shifting a bit. “Mmm… You did. By not choosing a side, you accidentally picked a side. The side of a traitor.”

“What? No, there’s… I didn't betray anyone.”

“You betrayed everyone.”

“I never meant any of this. George’s house, the war, the book. I just… I just want people to be safe.”

“If you want people to be safe, why’d you blow up the Community House?”

“...What?”

“Yeah, you and Tommy blew it up.”

Ranboo collapsed, his back slamming into the wall, causing pain to shoot up his spine, but he didn’t flinch, didn’t bat an eye. “No… No, I wouldn’t. I’d… I’d remember that.”

“Mmmm. Would you?”

“I… no, but… I would’ve written it down.”

“Really?”

“N-no. I don’t… but… If I… If I can’t trust my memory book, what can I trust?”

“Not yourself. I’m not even real.”

“What do you mean, you’re not real?”

Silence. The room was empty, except for him and Enderchest.

“He wasn’t even real.”

He went back to town. He had nowhere else to go. It was nearly empty now, except for Corpse, who nodded at him. The gas mask and eye patch the man wore covered his face, but the look he gave the boy was full of pity.

Ranboo left again. 

He knew it was dumb, but something in him wanted to go home, wanted to go to the only place he’d ever lived without fear.

But the village was gone. The raid had destroyed it, left it a ghost town. That’s two homes gone up in smoke. 

He found himself in the woods, curled up at the base of a tree, crying. He sobbed and sobbed, his whole body hurting with the force of his shaking. He cried until he had no more tears left, and then he just laid there in silence.

“Hello.”

He rolled onto his back, staring up at the figure. “Are you… real?”

Phil smiled sadly, stretching out his arms and looking at them with sparkling eyes. “Mmm… I think so, mate, not really sure, but, uh. Chances are good.”

He wore netherite armor, his hair tied up in a knot on the back of his head. His face was coated in ash and soot, and a thin line of blood trickled from his nose. His robes were black, instead of the normal green, and a compass was hung around his waist by a thin gold chain.

Ranboo shoved himself upright, looking at him with a pensive expression. “You blew up L’Manburg. You destroyed my home. You helped Dream.”

“Yeah. Did you make it out alright? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Ranboo laughed, bitterly, rising to his feet. He’d been hoping for someone to ask for so long, but now that someone had... “My back hurts, a bit.” 

He wasn’t expecting the man to look so concerned. “Oh? Nothing’s broken, right? Your spine is ok? If it’s just a bruise, I know some tips. I actually have a lotion, back at the cabin, we can use, but if something’s seriously broken or damaged, it may not work.”

Ranboo was glad then that he had been crying for the last hour, because he really wasn’t sure what he’d do if he still had tears left. As is, he almost collapsed right there in the man’s arms, almost let down his walls and hugged him, almost begged him to say he cared, even if it was a lie, even if it meant nothing to him. 

But he didn’t.

“No… I don’t think anything’s hurt too bad… I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”

Phil frowned, one hand moving up to Ranboo’s cheek. His right cheek. The one withered and decayed, blackened and shriveled. The boy flinched, but he just cupped his hand over his face, gently, looking into his eyes with a softness he’d rarely seen on anyone. Ranboo fought down the memory of mushroom stew and a warm hug, a memory he’d never quite forgotten.

“Do you need somewhere to stay?”

“What?”

Phil’s hand dropped to his side, and the boy fought down the urge to whimper, to grab it and put it back. How pathetic was he that he needed human contact this badly?

“A place to stay. Techno’s house is… Well, it’s a walk, but I have a feeling you won’t want to go back to L’Manburg.”

Ranboo’s chest burned. “No, I don’t. Someone blew it up, you know.”

Phil hummed, glancing away. “Yeah… I know. A bit hypocritical of me, isn’t it. Call Wil a terrorist, say he’s done horrible things, then turn around and help Techno do the exact same thing? I… I didn’t want to lose another son. I’ve never been a very good father.” 

“No, no you’re…” Ranboo fell silent, thinking. “There’s a difference between a bad father and a man tired of fighting.”

Phil gazed at him, a sad smile on his lips. “Hmmm. Is that what I am? Tired?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

“Me too…”

They stood there for a bit, before Ranboo spoke again. “Why did he do it? Why the hell did Techno do it?”

Phil sighed, letting his hair down to run a hand through it. “A couple reasons, I think. He lives life like a chess game. His mind is all tactics, always thinking about the next step. The next logical step for L’Manburg was to attack us. He’s lost so much, he… He just wanted peace, so he acted first. And his voices, I think. They like Dream, a bit too much, I think. Anything he says, they agree with, and it’s hard for him to just… block that out. And I wasn’t going to risk letting him go, watching him die.”

“He did it because of peer pressure.”

“Yeah.”

…

“... Can I come home?”

Phil didn’t ask what he meant. He just nodded, and smiled gently, reaching out a hand. Ranboo took it in his blackened, hardened hand, his fingers swallowing the man’s hand completely, but he didn’t pull away, or make a face. He just gently led Ranboo along.

They walked for a long time, long enough for Ranboo to wonder if this was really a good idea, if he was going to regret this, if he should trust Phil and Techno, but… He also really didn’t care. The way Phil smiled at him was something he’d never experienced before, the way Techno had defended him at the Community House was something he’d never realised would make him cry, the way the two of them, both of them, made him feel safe, free, happy.

Was this family?

He couldn’t remember growing up with Niki and Fundy, couldn’t remember all their family moments. When he’d chased after them, hoping for his siblings, instead he got… A bitter man obsessed with being remembered and a broken woman sick of being overlooked. He couldn’t remember what family felt like, but this?

This felt right.

Techno saw them coming, and opened the door, handing Phil a blanket to drape around the boy, nodding at him gently. 

“Hallo.”

And Ranboo’s heart melted, and he cried for the second time that day. But this time, he wasn’t crying in loneliness, in self doubt, in anger. No, now he cried in joy, in warmth, in the knowledge that he was safe for the first time in a long time.

As they ate dinner that night, Phil regaling Ranboo with embarrassing stories of Techno’s youth, he realised this felt more like home than L’Manburg ever did.

He was finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> comments give me power.
> 
> also, if you like this, check out the other works in this series, especially 'and the voices cried', they should provide some backstory.


End file.
